Livelihoods and Learning: Education for All and the Marginalisation of Mo-bile Pastoralists. By Caroline Dyer. London: Routledge, 2014, 215 pp.; ISBN 978-0-415-58590-3 (Hardcover), 978-0-203-08390-1 (E-Book)

In this book, Caroline Dyer, whose work with education in India has been known for many years through many articles, draws together her ethnographic experience of living with the Rabari of India, and reflects on what this means for Education for All goals

The Death Penalty and Reversible Error in Massachusetts

[Excerpt] “This article will survey Massachusetts homicide cases from 1805 to 1996 in which the SJC found reversible error. For comparative purposes, the data will be grouped into three periods: from 1805, the year the SJC began to publish its decisions, to 1891, the year original jurisdiction for homicide cases was transferred from the SJC to the Superior Court; 1892 to 1939, the year Massachusetts law allowed the SJC to review the facts as well as the law of capital cases; and from 1940 to 1996, the year Chief Justice Paul Liacos resigned from the court and the importance of state constitutionalism declined. First, the data on reversible error will be situated within its proper legal-historical context and analyzed. Second, using key cases, this article will illustrate some of the major changes in criminal procedure initiated by the court’s finding of reversible error. I argue that the sharp increase in the number of homicide cases in which the SJC found reversible error and the resulting transformation of capital procedure was stimulated chiefly by the SJC’s commitment to state constitutionalism after Warren’s retirement in 1969. For these reasons, from 1970 to 1996 the SJC reversed a greater percentage of capital cases than ever before in its long history. Most importantly, in 1975 the court abolished the mandatory death penalty for murder committed during a rape and in three subsequent opinions found the death penalty violated Articles 12 and 26 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.

Modes of competition and the fitness of evolved populations

Competition between individuals drives the evolution of whole species. Although the fittest individuals survive the longest and produce the most offspring, in some circumstances the resulting species may not be optimally fit. Here, using theoretical analysis and stochastic simulations of a simple model ecology, we show how the mode of competition can profoundly affect the fitness of evolved species. When individuals compete directly with one another, the adaptive dynamics framework provides accurate predictions for the number and distribution of species, which occupy positions of maximal fitness. By contrast, if competition is mediated by the consumption of a common resource then demographic noise leads to the stabilization of species with near minimal fitness.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Importance driven environment map sampling

In this paper we present an automatic and efficient method for supporting Image Based Lighting (IBL) for bidirectional methods which improves both the sampling of the environment, and the detection and sampling of important regions of the scene, such as windows and doors. These often have a small area proportional to that of the entire scene, so paths which pass through them are generated with a low probability. The method proposed in this paper improves this by taking into account view importance, and modifies the lighting distribution to use light transport information. This also automatically constructs a sampling distribution in locations which are relevant to the camera position, thereby improving sampling. Results are presented when our method is applied to bidirectional rendering techniques, in particular we show results for Bidirectional Path Tracing, Metropolis Light Transport and Progressive Photon Mapping. Efficiency results demonstrate speed up of orders of magnitude (depending on the rendering method used), when compared to other methods

Analysis of a fixed-pitch X-wing rotor employing lower surface blowing

Lower surface blowing (LSB) is investigated as an alternative to the variable blade pitch requirement for the X-wing Circulation Control (CC) rotor concept. Addition trailing edge blowing slots on the lower surfaces of CC airfoils provide a bidirectional lift capability that effectively doubles the control range. The operational requirements of this rotor system are detailed and compared to the projected performance attributes of LSB airfoils. Analysis shows that, aerodynamically, LSB supplies a fixed pitch rotor system with the equivalent lift efficiency and rotor control of present CC rotor designs that employ variable blade pitch. Aerodynamic demands of bidirectional lift production are predicted to be within the capabilities of current CC airfoil design methodology. Emphasis in this analysis is given to the high speed rotary wing flight regime unique to stoppable rotor aircraft. The impact of a fixed pitch restriction in hover and low speed flight is briefly discussed

The base of the iceberg: informal learning and its impact on formal and non-formal learning

The author looks at learning (formal, non-formal and informal) and examines the hidden world of informal (unconscious, unplanned) learning. He points out the importance of informal learning for creating tacit attitudes and values, knowledge and skills which influence (conscious, planned) learning - formal and non-formal. Moreover, he explores the implications of informal learning for educational planners and teachers in the context of lifelong learning. While mainly aimed at adult educators, the book\u27s arguments apply also to schooling and higher education, in both industrialised societies and developing countries where large numbers of children and adults are not and have not been in school and so rely on informal learning to manage change. (DIPF/Verlag